The Dunwich Horror / "10 for 10" exhibition at Belfast Film Festival

The Belfast Film Festival is now in it's tenth year, and to celebrate this and 100 years of cinema in Belfast, they commisioned 10 designers and artists to produce a film poster redesign of famous (and not so famous) films through the ages. I was one of those asked, and ended up with the task of interpreting the 1970 Roger Corman funded B-movie "classic", The Dunwich Horror. First task was to watch the movie, which it must be said, is not particularly scary. Based loosely on the H.P Lovecraft story of the same name, what it lacks in unnameable horrors it makes up for with a gigantic serving of camp weirdness. There's plenty of reviews and info at IMDB (I've linked this below) but a quick glance at the trailer should give you an idea about what to expect :

I would actually argue that the film is marginally better than the trailer suggests.
Highlights include :

- Dean Stockwell (of Lynch films and Quantum Leap) in exceptionally bizarre mode, complete with afro and moustache shouting "Yog Sothoth"
- A truly odd animated title sequence which looks as if the band Sunn O))) had their own saturday morning cartoon show
- Dark robed albino cultist women
- Filmed in hideously garish C O L O R

Posters at the time largely consisted of an original illustration that bore no resemblance to anything you ever witness in the movie, and I quickly decided that I'd base the design on the main Stockwell character and the "Thunderbird" emblem that frequently appears in the movie. This symbol is arguably one of the most distinct elements in the movie and is probably intended as a reference to the Whip Poor Wills legend mentioned in the original text ("The sound of whipoorwills is the song of the Death in Dunwich!" was one of the original taglines). I exchanged the original tagline for some of Stockwell's dialogue in the movie, and re-drew the symbol as the basis for the poster, combined with some manipulated screencaps from the movie. I also used Microgramma as main header type for this, which I hope helps give it an authentic late 60's / early 70's feel.

The '10 for 10' exhibition opens at The John Hewitt Bar, Belfast on Monday 19th April at 7pm.

Some of the other films included are ‘A Lad from Old Ireland’ (1910). The Blue Angel (1930). Experiments in the Revival of Organisms (1940). La Dolce Vita (1960).

Belfast Film Festival
The Dunwich Horror @ IMDB

THE OCEAN - screenprinted poster

I wanted to come up with something that referenced both the band name, and also the "Heliocentric" concepts surrounding The Ocean's new album. The band had already developed a strong, literal visual identity for this with celestial maps and appropriated alchemical art. I felt it was important to directly reference these themes, but was keen to avoid merely re-working what I had seen of the album art.

A depiction of a lunar, water goddess is the main thought here - early Celtic belief often regarded bodies of water as thresholds to the underworld, or land of the dead (referenced this here by a subtle skull shape in the upper half of the face). The scallop shell is another pre-Christian symbol incorporated into a lot of Renaisssance era art, often used to depict the setting sun. The transparent sphere and cube are variations on Alpha/Omega symbology. I used a nice metallic base with a hint of blue for the base of this...one of those prints that changes colour subtly depending on lighting and angle.

4 colour print.
Edition of 75. (Signed & numbered).
19x25". 270gsm "Pistachio" paper.

Available now from my store : scrawled.bigcartel.com

EYEHATEGOD - poster - Easter Sunday 2010

Eyehategod were definitely one of the first bands to successfully merge the weight of Sabbath with Black Flag style punk nihilism. I remember picking up "In The Name Of Suffering", quickly followed by the split 7" with 13, and the "Ruptured Heart Theory" EP. Bands such as EHG and Buzzoven definitely paved the way for the "sludge" bands of today and have a special place in my heart so it was fun to finally get the chance to see one of the pioneers live.

After digging out the aformentioned 7"s, as well as my copy of "Take As Needed For Pain" (their finest moment I reckon), I quickly decided that the old "cut & paste" approach was the only way forward. I flirted with the idea of a new, original illo but ultimately felt that the bands lo-fi design aesthetic suited their sound perfectly...if it aint broke, don't fix it! The end result is a mix of medieval alchemic and Christian imagery, with a riff on the EHG "crown" symbol they've used over the years.

Trivia note: the girl on this is a teenage Jodie Foster - I specifically sought out images of JF because I always thought that the dubious photo on "Take As Needed..." was her - but I've now been reliably informed by the band that this came from somewhere else which I've now forgotten. Regardless, the band played an amazing set and loved the print...

As an experiment I decided to make this 12" album cover size. I constantly get people interested in the prints but complaining that they have to get custom framing done for them. No excuses here...these fit snugly into one of those 12" LP frames you can get at Urban Outfitters and the like.

3 colour print, 12.5" x 12.5" 270gsm natural paper.
Edition of 75.

These are only £5 each (+P&P) - but you can get one FREE with any other print purchase over £12 at my store : scrawled.bigcartel.com